


Stubborn as a Mule

by Luv_Haze



Category: Dark (TV 2017)
Genre: 2020 and beyond, Coming of Age, F/M, Falling In Love, Noabeth - Freeform, Season 3 Spoilers, she's 17 before anything happens
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:06:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24991255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luv_Haze/pseuds/Luv_Haze
Summary: As Elisabeth ages and develops a natural interest in having a boyfriend, Noah has to follow his protective instincts and deter her from pursuing such things with him until she's older. Though he isn't sure if she actually wants those things with him because she actually likes him or if it's just because he's the only guy around.Mostly, Elisabeth just keeps bringing it up because she knows he'll eventually give in.
Relationships: Elisabeth Doppler/Noah | Hanno Tauber, Noabeth
Comments: 42
Kudos: 224





	Stubborn as a Mule

**Author's Note:**

> This is one of those quick little stories to appease the chirping in my head that we needed more Noah and Elisabeth scenes in the new season. There will be another chapter (or more) but this fic is more fluffy than deep. Enjoy!

He took great pride in how quickly he learned to sign, granted she’d been a fierce teacher, frequently yanking the pencil away when he reverted to writing too much during lessons, but still, it felt like a great accomplishment. His older self had told him a lot, but not nearly enough. He hadn’t known he’d learn a whole new language just to communicate with her. _Protect her,_ was mostly what his older self had said, but it would’ve been nice to know that she’s as stubborn as a mule and a bit bossy or that she often didn’t want his help or protection because his very existence seemed to irritate her as much as it offered her comfort. 

Even Agnes hadn’t tested his patience this much and she was the biggest pain he’d ever met. Elisabeth tested him in different ways though, ways that a sister never would. Ways that made him question which one of them was the adult and why he’d been kept in the dark about the feelings he’d clearly develop for her.

He thought she would be his first rendezvous of many points along his journey through time. He had no idea she’d be his _only_ one for years to come. Well, there was Jonas, but even their friendship didn’t come close to whatever connection he and Elisabeth shared. She was his everything and that soothed him as much as it worried him. He’d seen his future self, but he hadn’t seen hers.

She taught him much about himself, his limits, his patience, his desire to understand, but he’d yet to teach her the one thing she wanted to learn most about. He’d taught her how to hunt, which was quite the task given she couldn’t listen for the rustling of a nearby animal, but she took to it and found her own way of tracking. He taught her to fish, though they always had to travel out a bit and camp to reduce the risk of contaminated wildlife.

He taught her how fight, how to hold a gun, how to shoot it. He taught her all the survival skills he could think of but yet no matter what he taught her, she asked for the same one thing that he withheld educating her on because he didn’t like the idea that it was something she wanted for the sake of wanting.

He wanted her to want him. Not just to want to know about sex.

It had all started one day when he was busy unpacking his overnight bag from a hunting trip he’d taken alone. He’d already said hello to her upon his return, a typical nod of his head, a quick _how are you_ and then he’d eaten the beans she had prepared. He’d given her a once over while she scooped the beans into a bowl, to make sure she was unscathed from his time away. He hated leaving her but Jonas checked on her and she was adamant she’d be fine on her own for a night.

He glanced up from his bag, catching her hands moving out of the corner of his eye. She had that look on her face, the one she always had, he didn’t need her to sign it to know what it meant— _are you paying attention_ is what it meant.

 _Do you think I’m pretty?_ Her hands spelled out.

It was the third time in as many weeks that she’d asked him something similar. Always about her looks and always about his opinion of them. The last time it had been about her hair.

“Yes,” he said out loud as he signed. “You are pretty.”

He broke eye contact immediately and went back to unpacking, hopeful that she’d be satisfied with his answer.

She tapped him on the arm. So no then, not satisfied, stubborn as a mule. He looked up again.

 _Then be my boyfriend,_ she signed.

A knot tightened in his chest. “You’re too young for a boyfriend,” he signed, except he realized he’d mistakenly used the word _baby_ instead of _young_ when her face scrunched up in anger and her hands started flying again.

_I’m not a baby! I’ve already had a boyfriend!_

“What boyfriend? Who?” Noah signed quickly. She was only fourteen and he’d been with her constantly for several years now, when did she have this alleged boyfriend of hers?

_Yasin. He disappeared. Maybe he traveled. I don’t know. But I’m not a baby, I’m old enough to have a boyfriend and you think I’m pretty so…_

Noah had a hard time keeping up whenever she signed too quickly, but it didn’t matter exactly what she said because he already knew what to reply. “You are fourteen. I am twenty-two. I am too old to be your boyfriend.”

Elisabeth seemed to take that logic in as he watched her process the information. He knew better than to let his guard down with her though, she was smart as a whip and often thought things through before countering. And when she wanted something, she stopped at nothing to get it.

But even more so, he didn’t know how to feel about her wanting him to be her boyfriend. She was far too young but the frustration of her request rattled around in his head. Did she just want a boyfriend and he happened to be the only guy around or did she actually like _him_? It irked him to no end that he felt insecure.

“If you want a boyfriend, we can find you one your own age,” he signed, not because he had any intention of helping her find some fourteen year old boy who had managed to survive the apocalypse but because he wanted to see her reaction for his own sake. That and he didn’t want her chasing after Jonas next.

She stared at him like he had two heads. It didn’t give him the answer he was seeking. It didn’t tell him her true intentions, it just let him know that she was recalculating her approach.

She must’ve found her new angle because suddenly her eyes twinkled.

_Have you had a girlfriend before?_

“No,” he said, not bothering to sign it. She could read lips well enough and _yes_ and _no_ were things she told him to just say with a nod or shake of his head.

She seemed pleased at his answer and started smiling again.

_Maybe we can find you a girlfriend your own age then…unless you like boys._

Clenching his jaw, he offered a fake smile and signed, “I like girls, but I do not want a girlfriend.”

Elisabeth then signed something that he didn’t catch. Something about _have you_ something or other.

“I don’t know that word,” he signed after she repeated it again.

Elisabeth pulled her newest notepad out of her pocket and scribbled a single word— _sex_.

 _Have you had it?_ She signed, pointing to the word.

“That’s personal,” he signed back, but heard his older self’s voice in his head remind him… _don’t lie to her._ He isn’t sure if _this_ is such an occasion to be truthful or not, but the voice compelled him to come clean. “Yes,” he said, signing and nodding to drive the answer home, not to hurt her, but to reassert himself.

_Who?_

“Who!?” His hands jerked, sloppy in their signing at her blunt question. “It doesn’t matter. Just some girl from before.”

_Before you traveled here?_

“Yes, before I traveled here.” It had only been once, it hadn’t meant anything. It was just something he’d done and he never thought about it, didn’t want to think about it.

Elisabeth looked thoughtful again for a moment. _Was she prettier than me?_

Noah snorted and stood up, stretching out his back as he went. She was as stubborn as a mule.

“No, not prettier than you,” he signed before walking away and effectively ending her line of questioning for the moment. But she was never quiet for long, especially when she wanted something.

The next time she asked him about it, she had just turned sixteen.

 _Have you had sex?_ She asked out of the blue one unusually sunny afternoon.

He wondered if she had forgotten that they’ve already had this conversation, maybe the coveted but infrequent sunshine had thrown her mind for a loop. He paused and turned his face up toward the sun, this _be honest with her_ thing was more stressful than he’d anticipated. “I already told you, yes.”

_I mean, since the last time I asked you…have you had sex?_

Even though it had been nearly two years since she asked and a lot could happen in that amount of time, it was an odd question given their circumstances. They were joined at the hip, when would she think he had the time? They’d only been apart a handful of nights over the years and it was only for one night at a time. He supposed he could have snuck away to be with a woman from her perspective, but she’d be happy to know his only comfort those nights had been his own hand.

“Yes, every night when you are asleep, all the prettiest girls in the land come warm my bed, together, all at once, all of them,” he signed, “it is a wonder you never wake up with all the noise.”

She rolled her eyes at him, but he knew she appreciated that he finally learned how to be funny with signing. The first time he’d managed to tell a joke she laughed and hugged him so hard he thought she’d never let go.

 _Be serious._ She lightly smacked his arm.

“No, there has been no sex. Are you happy now?”

She certainly didn’t look any happier. _Is it because of me? I feel bad that you cannot have a girlfriend because you have to look after me._

“I don’t want a girlfriend,” he said.

_Do you see me like a child? Or little sister?_

“No,” he said, “I see you as Elisabeth. A young woman, not a child.”

_I’m sixteen, I’m old enough now._

“I. Don’t. Want. A. Girlfriend.” Noah said again, punctuating each word with his hands.

The awful thing was, he wasn’t being honest. Of all the things he’d begrudgingly told her in the name of honesty and following his inner voice, this was his only untruth.…he _did_ want a girlfriend, he wanted _her_ as his girlfriend, but he just couldn’t, not yet. He didn’t even know what was holding him back, but it must’ve been instinct, because it wasn’t like there was anyone patrolling them, dictating when they could do what. And his older self had not given him any foresight about this, about how persistent she would be and how utterly and hopelessly in love with her he’d find himself to be.

_What if we just have sex instead?_

Heat rushed up his neck to his ears. “No! You are not old enough to have sex,” he said roughly, his hands firm in their signing. “No!”

Her eyes pierced his soul, full of fire and intent. But not the passionate kind of fire he hoped to see in them one day, but that determined _come Hell or high water_ type of fire that meant she wasn’t ready to relent just yet and that they’re clearly on the verge of having an argument.

_How old were you when you had sex?_

Fuck. He had been sixteen. But to be fair, so had the girl. “It’s not the same, we were the same age.”

 _How old?_ She pressed.

“Sixteen,” he signed, starting to understand why his older self said to always tell her the truth because she’d just hound you until she got it out of you anyway.

This time though, it’s Elisabeth that ends the conversation by walking away. And then she didn’t speak to him for two days.

She’s well into her seventeenth year before she brings it up again.

 _I want my first time to be with you_ she signed one rainy evening when they were cooped up inside and he had nowhere to run. She had been reading and he had been absentmindedly watching her read when she noticed. She had put the book down and easily signed out the words that now hung heavy between them.

“Okay…yes,” he said out loud hesitantly, but didn’t sign it.

 _Yes? Did you just say yes?_ She sat up straight in her chair.

“Yes,” he signed. He scratched at the back of his neck, nervous but feeling that his instincts were telling him it was okay now, okay to entertain this idea.

 _Right now?_ She looked confused, but adorably excited.

He laughed. “No, not right now. When the time is right.”

She audibly groaned. _You make me want to like girls!_ She glared at him then got up and walked away.

It amused him that she thought they’d just suddenly have sex out of nowhere. It’s as if she hadn’t figured him out in all the years they’d been surviving together but perhaps that was his fault, for hiding it, for hiding his growing attraction to her, his love for her. He’d certainly make sure she knew of it before anything happened between them.

If it was just the experience of sex she was after, she’d have to get it from somebody else (but he wouldn’t actually let that happen so…), because he was in it for the long haul. He couldn’t see a future without her, even though he’d literally stared into the face of his future self…who had been without her.

It didn’t matter though, he hadn’t aged enough to look like his older self yet, he still had time. And if she wanted to have sex with him, she’d better be ready because they weren’t having sex until he was sure he had her heart, because without her even knowing it, she already had his.


End file.
